The Egyptian Problem

XII
THE BREAKDOWN OF THE CONTROL
213
in .his Reports that the task of supervising the great machinery of British control had grown too much for him. "Although I have endeavoured/' he wrote, "t© exercise some general supervision over the employment of Europeans in the Egyptian services, and although individual cases of special importance have been generally referred to me, I have not for some years past made a thorough examination of all the details." He clearly showed that in his opinion the increase was such as to require very full explanation. He contended that there had been no departure from the general policy pursued ever since the Occupation, which had been " to limit the number of Europeans as much as possible, to employ Egyptians in the great majority of the subordinate and in a large number of the superior administrative posts, and gradually to prepare the ground for increasing them further." He pointed out that European agency was required and would continue to be required for two reasons : " In the first place to supply the technical knowledge which until very recently the Egyptians have had no opportunity of acquiring ; in the second place to remedy those defects in the Egyptian character which have been developed by a long course of misgovernment." He proceeded to justify the increase in each separate Department, and the part of his defence which carries the least conviction is the contention that the Department of Public Instruction had done all that could be reasonably expected to supply the demands of the public services.
The chief point of interest, however, is that Lord Cromer felt himself called upon to justify an increase which after all had only brought the number of Englishmen employed in the Egyptian public services up to 662. What would he have said could he have known that according to the Budget provisions for 1919-1920 that number would show a further increase of over 150 per cent., viz., to 1,671 ! If one reduces this figure by the number of Englishmen, 117, employed without a contract and "hors cadre, a classts on the subject he gave about the only indication* to be foundble, to get on with Egyptians, jit